North Carolina Courage 3–1 Portland Thorns
Cary, NC— According to North Carolina Courage veteran Meredith Speck, there hasn’t been a time this season when the team didn’t feel like, “we’re just, like, one tiny moment away from doing exactly what we’ve been doing [over the past two games].”
Whether you want to call their comeback draw in Portland a turning point or the game where things began clicking for the Courage, they’ve picked a great time to take advantage of their games in hand. With only one loss in their last five games, and a huge win against the Thorns Wednesday night, North Carolina is working their way up the table.
If there’s any question that Portland brings out the best in the Courage, check out this stat:
@TheNCCourage have scored 33% of the goals the Portland Thorns have conceded this season (6 of 18)#NWSL #CourageUnitesUs #BAONPDX
— Arianna Cascone (@casconearianna) August 25, 2022
After an “uneasy” 10 minutes to open the game, North Carolina took control of the game. And who else to open the scoring on the night than Diana Ordóñez? Her header off of another outstanding service from Carson Pickett put the Courage out in front in the 24th minute.
Unfortunately, Ordóñez’s night would end early. In a seemingly innocuous play, she crumbled to the ground clutching her shoulder in considerable pain, and was immediately attended to by training and medical staff. Although a stretcher was rolled onto the field, the Courage forward got to her feet and left the field under her own power.
In his post-game remarks, head coach Sean Nahas said Ordóñez wanted to return to the game, but he subbed in Brittany Ratcliffe. “She wanted to go back in, you know, the doctors left it up to her…it was just too much of a risk [to leave her in the game]”.
While you don’t like losing a player the caliber of Diana Ordóñez, Brittany Ratcliffe’s speed and work on and off the ball has left plenty of defenders broken-hearted. And her presence in the game with Debinha and Kerolin continued to tax the Thorns back line.
Sophia Smith, Portland’s scoring leader, created a couple of scoring opportunities in the first half, including an impressive drive from midfield to the Courage penalty area but her shot was snuffed out by goalkeeper Casey Murphy.
The Courage doubled their lead in the 50th minute thanks to some great link up play that started at the back with Kaleigh Kurtz sliding a pass to Ryan Williams out on the flank. Williams sent a one-touch pass to Kerolin and got the ball back on the give-and-go. She pushed the ball toward the Portland box and sent the ball across the Portland goal. The ball deflected off of a Portland defender right Debinha who was flawless on the finish.
Debinha nearly got a brace in the 56th minute when Denise O’Sullivan intercepted the ball near midfield and got the ball up to the Brazilian. Debinha drove through the box and opened space for a shot, but Smith made a fantastic kick save to deny the scoring opportunity.
Rocky Rodriguez spoiled North Carolina’s clean sheet in the 63rd minute. Yazmeen Ryan delivered a spot-on corner kick to the far post where Rodriguez climbed the ladder and beat Murphy with the header. Even with a dominating performance from North Carolina, this game was far from over.
Smith, who had a great game in goal for the Thorns, made another spectacular save to deny Debinha again in the 83rd minute. Portland attempted to clear the ball off of a corner kick, but Debinha corralled the ball and sent a curling shot toward the upper 90. Smith skied to bat the ball away and keep the Thorns in the game.
The Courage secured the three points moments later. Not surprisingly, the scoring play started off of a Pickett corner kick. The ball came off of a Portland defender’s head to Jaelene Daniels, who headed the ball back into the six-yard box. Speck had posted up at the near post and flicked a header on net that looped up and over the reach of Smith to make it a 3-1 final for the Courage.
It was Portland’s first defeat since May and ended their 11-game undefeated streak.
Roster News: The Courage announced on Tuesday that they have traded forward Valérie Gauvin to the Houston Dash in exchange for $25,000 in allocation money and a conditional second-round 2024 NWSL draft pick. Gauvin joined North Carolina in March but did not log any minutes with the club.
Courage head coach Sean Nahas teased another signing but gave no further indication about the player or position.
Final Notes
• Wednesday night’s game was the rescheduled game that was supposed to be the Courage regular season home opener. The match had to be postponed when Portland advanced to the Challenge Cup final.
• Next up for North Carolina is a road swing through Kansas City (August 28) and New Jersey (September 4) before they return to WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday September 10 to play Racing Louisville FC.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: C. Murphy; C. Pickett, A. Erceg©, K. Kurtz, R. Williams; B. Pinto (M. Berkely 65’), D. O’Sullivan, Fuka (M. Speck 65’), Debinha; D. Ordóñez (B. Ratcliffe 33’/M. Mathias 74’), Kerolin (J. Daniels 74’)
Portland Thorns: A. Smith; M. Klingenberg (N. Kuikka 45’), B. Sauerbrunn (E. Menges 64’), K. Hubly, M. Nally; H. Sugita (M. Weaver 78’), T. Porter, O. Moultrie; Y. Ryan, J. Beckie (R. Rodriguez 45’); S. Smith (H. Betfort 64’)
Score:
North Carolina Courage: 3
Portland Thorns: 1
Goals:
North Carolina Courage: D. Ordóñez (C. Pickett) 24’; Debinha (unassisted) 50’; M. Speck (J. Daniels)
Portland Thorns: R. Rodriguez (Y. Ryan) 63’
Discipline
North Carolina Courage: M. Mathias (YC 90+3’)
Portland Thorns: none
